Once settled I thought I’d have no stories to tell about the embroidered pieces of fabric. Well, I do. Not traveling does not mean that nothing happens. Yet, this story behind this pouch is rather sad.
This piece of fabric, dyed with black walnut, and stitched with a Japanese kogin pattern was meant to try out a more intricate pattern. Just one pattern. Instead I happen to duplicate the same pattern until the fabric was filled, and so, a lot happened over the course of this piece of embroidered fabric.
Not only did I try a lot of preserving of home grown veggies. I also had a new experience of our cats who would choose to walk with me to my favorite spot in the woods.
At first I was not so eager to have them hopping and side skirting along, their tongues dangling worriedly far out and their fur spread as impressive as possible. Indeed, they’d become two bold kittens, discovering the hemisphere.
While I sat embroidering in the woods, early morning with a thermos of chai and breakfast taken along, they would roam the direct surrounding. When I’d call for them, they’d come tiptoeing.
After a while they got more confidence and would jump trees, hunt for feathers and lazily lay around. My energy would built up as well, and soon I would go back to plow the plot, to sow the seeds, to pluck the produce.
They’d walked back, always with a bravura unknown to cats, all the while I carried a huge smile. I’d laughed and felt joyful.
My worries about cats tagging along had changed into a pleasurable happening and indeed I did enjoy it. My husband and I would go for walks with the cats: they needed no encouragement.
Of course, you can feel what’s coming next.
Correct. As much as they walked into the forest, they walked out of our lives.
Just like that.
Off they were. One after another, three nights in between. First the girl, one day before her sterilization. Than the brother, a few days after his vaccination, a month after his castration.
Worried. Offended. Surprised. A bit angered: ‘How can they just walk out of our lives? We loved them.’ Doubting our care: ‘Did we give them too much of an inferior quality of food?’ We searched the area. We told people about our cats gone (on an adventure of their own). One person uttered the existence of golden jackals. And indeed I heard calls of animals I could not place as foxed nor dogs howling out.
Leah & Judah € 35
CINDY Needle Art 